Hear plenty of performance experts, and it’s easy to convince yourself that napping is a secret weapon: rather than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a path towards improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Premier League footballers swear by it – and so are professional piano players, UFC champions & business leaders. However, if you lack a special sleep space or employment that encourages daytime sleep, is it *truly* worthwhile perks to a quick nap to justify the hassle? Does there exist a reliable way to nod off promptly? And can you honestly promise you will arise feeling improved, rather than worse?
Exploring Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science professor. “Firstly, there's known as recovery napping, that is the action you take following a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, which involves preparing for sleep loss in the future, such as when working graveyard shifts. The third reason is “hedonic napping”, which essentially boils down to the wish: you get a chance to nap in the daytime, and it's pleasant to do it.”
The initial step to consider, so, is to examine why you want to nap. “Napping can be genuinely useful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons outside your control – for instance, when you are caring for an infant, or if you are healing from sickness or strenuous activity,” says a sleep physiologist. “But if you nap as your night sleep feels fragile or poor, that can be a sign your body's sleep pressure is not at the level it should be. Under those circumstances, daytime sleep can turn into part of the problem, rather than the answer. Use napping as a temporary measure for short-term problems – the focus must always be a robust and regular sleep at night.”
The Ideal Snooze Time
Therefore that daytime sleep must not be long enough to affect your nighttime sleep, and best are not recommended after about 3pm (based on when you go to bed overnight). What's a reasonable length? Recommendations vary. In one of a prominent study about napping, experts discovered that space travelers had improvements of over 50% in alertness plus a 34% rise in task performance post a 26-minute snooze (in detail, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “My advice is using an alarm for 20-30 minutes – many individuals fall asleep quickly,” notes a sleep coach. “There’s a lot of guidance out there about the optimal amount of time, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything else – and the most counterproductive thing you can do when trying to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you plan to take an extended nap, steer clear of the 45-60 minute window that promotes that sluggish feeling, that foggy state upon waking. “Studies indicates it's more effective to take an extended nap lasting 60-90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” explains the expert. “Forty-five minutes is sufficient to plunge you into a deep sleep stage making it more likely to feel disoriented when you wake up – however, if you nap for slightly longer to 60 or 90 minutes, you’re likely to finish of a sleep cycle and will probably get up feeling more refreshed. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it can influence the quality of your sleep in the evening.”
Creating an Ideal Sleep Space
Regarding precise methods, recommendations vary. Certain specialists recommend adopting comparable habits you’d use to foster a good night’s sleep: a peaceful area, a supportive surface and as much darkness as is feasible. Some advise that it's fine to simply nap on the sofa in the existing light is present – both to discourage post-nap grogginess and to maintain your bed as the environment your mind associates with *real* sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” explains an expert. “Without any drowsiness, it is more challenging to lie down and basically command yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination present to initiate sleep initially. I can usually nap during the day and wake up naturally without a timer, but what helps most folks is to anticipate a time that they’re naturally feeling a bit drowsy and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and should you have few options – such as, if you’re trying to squeeze in 40 winks while traveling or at the office – it is perfectly fine with bringing a few tools. “Coaching footballers, I advise that they don’t get used to napping in bed, because they’re going to have|they will
